Basic Lighting in Arnold - Physical Sky

In this simple tutorial, for Autodesk Maya beginners, we explain how to achieve a super basic lighting setup in Arnold using the settings in Physical Sky. This is as simple a setup as it is possible to achieve in Arnold, and gives good results for an outdoor scene with just a few clicks.

Physical Sky Tutorial

1. Start by Opening Maya. Make sure you are in the Render menu (top left)
2. Render/Render Settings/Render Using/Arnold
3. In the Common Tab, go to File Output: Select JPEG
4. Image size HD 720
5. Now go to the Arnold Renderer Tab 
6. Arnold/Lights/Physical Sky
7. Do a render test - the scene probably looks a bit dark
8. Take intensity up to 4 or 5 to make it brighter. 
9. Go to Sky Tint to change the colour of the sky.
10. Sun Tint will do something similar.

Lighting at Animation Apprentice

To find more lighting and rendering resources at Animation Apprentice, follow the links below:

• Create a Starry Sky with the Arnold Skydome
• Basic Lighting in Arnold with the Sky Shader
• Export a Render Sequence in Arnold
• Why Does Maya Batch Render Too Dark?
• Why Has Arnold Disappeared From Maya?
• Arnold Video Tutorial Playlist
• Physical Sun and Sky in Mental Ray
• Free Lighting Tutorials with Pixar's Jeremy Birn

To find out more about Animation Apprentice, click here for a link to Frequently Asked Questions. To sign up for our next classroom at Animation Apprentice, follow this link.